Great Things Are Happening

My wonderful Family and friends,

Well.... basically this is part 2 or should I say chapter 2 of The Great Adventures of Kwamo that began last week. It was another great and adventure filled week.

We started it off by planning a sweet zone activity last Monday night before Zone Conference. Because our zone is so spread out it is very difficult to have zone activities. But, everyone was coming down to Kumasi anyways for zone conference so we decided to use that to our advantage and plan a sweet zone activity to really boost the morale of our troops. We played a sweet game of football (of course) and then had some great fried rice and played a super fun Book of Mormon Jeopardy game that my companion and I put together. It was seriously cool being with all of our zone members and it sure had a lasting impression on our zone members. To make things even sweeter our whole zone slept in our apartment that night as well. It was one huge zone sleep-over. We managed to fit 10 other missionaries in our already small and full apartment so that was an adventure.

The next day, on Tuesday, we all headed out to the Asokwa Stake Center at Tech which is about 30 minutes away from Kwamo for a powerful zone conference. Man, President Webster is so spiritual. We spent the whole day talking about the Book of Mormon and how we can better use it to bring more people to the restored gospel. It really opened my eyes to different ways we can go about sharing the gospel through the Book of Mormon. My companion and I made some serious goals to share the Book of Mormon and give it out to as many people as we can. It is Elder Smith's last transfer and he basically has two more weeks left so our goal is to hand out a box of Books of Mormon each week until he goes home. Which will be about 4 a day which is super doable out here. We will lead the mission in copies of the Books of Mormon placed!! After zone conference, we basically stayed for an extra five hours so that President Webster could interview our zone. There were six members of another zone that had to go and then fourteen of us and of course, the zone leaders are the last ones. We didn't get out of there until like 8 pm and then we had a 30-minute drive back to our apartment so zero proselyting got done last Tuesday. 

Wednesday was a great day because one of the less-actives we have been working super hard on came to Mid-week. His name is Joseph and he hasn't come to church for three years. He once was a super powerful member but he had many doubts and questions about the Temple so he fell less active. We have met with him to strengthen his faith as well as his knowledge about the Temple. He told us that he would come to Mid-week first and then to church. We were so happy to see him there when we showed up at the chapel. He is really feeling the spirit again and even seeing that he needs to come back which is super cool. It is amazing to bring people to the restored gospel but is also super sweet helping people back to the path. I love mission.

 Sister Precious baptism with her friends, recent convert Beantu and Blessing

We baptized a recent converts family Brother Ikwiee (wife:Ma Olivia, kids Lord and Lily) and then also Angela on the far left living with a member family 

On Saturday we had our seriously powerful baptism of five people. The service was seriously spiritual and everything eventually went well in the end. But, we had some serious opposition in the preparation for the baptism. We got to the chapel super early to prepare but within like two minutes of us being there I accidentally dropped our phone down like a ten foot drain so we couldn't call any of the members or the people coming to baptize so we just had to rely on faith that they would show up and everything would be ok. 

This is the drain where I dropped our phone while I was trying to close the drain for the baptismal font. It fell right out of my shirt pocket. Luckily, the phone still works but it is certainly on its last leg.

The next thing that happened was the power went out while we were filling the baptismal font. And in order to fill the font the water has to be pumped from the poly tank and of course, in order for it to work, we needed electricity. At this point, it seemed like everything was going wrong. But, we relied on faith and before we knew it the baptismal font was filled, members showed up and all of our investigators were there ready to go. It was a fantastic baptism and everything worked out in the end as we relied on faith and Heavenly Father. 

The Assistants, my companionship and the Effiduasi Elders taken before the exchange (Elder Wetsel, Elder Smith, Elder Blanchard, Elder Banta, Elder Surtees and then me)

Later that day we went on an emergency exchange out to Effiduasi to help and strengthen a missionary out there. It was a very effective exchange and we were able to really help their companionship out. During the exchange, I also went to a place that takes the definition of the bush to a whole new level. It was a village called Sanaja and barely even 50 people lived there. It was a small town surrounded by some seriously dense jungle. When we first got there a man asked if we wanted to buy some machetes because we might need them. The missionary that I was with said it would be ok, the place that we were going wasn't that thick. We basically just stayed in the town area. On a powerful note, the place even had a group where like 2/3 of the members in the village were members which was seriously surprising but cool at the same time. We went there to visit with the group leader and just to see how everything was doing out there. My own nickname for the Kwamo Zone is now Bush Central. Majority of our zone is made up of small villages and straight bush. 

Things in the area have been going very well. We honestly didn't have a lot of time to focus on Kwamo but this week will be a lot better. We are even planning a seriously powerful activity this week to get more people interested in the restored gospel and that is an open house. Our Bishop is so excited about it. He is telling everyone and even put a couple announcements on the towns PA system. Everyone in Kwamo will come to this thing it will be absolutely amazing. I continue to have a great time out here in Ghana and hope all of you have an amazing week!!!

Love your American Bush Master (a name in the village someone gave to us) ELDER ORDYNA

Bishop Prosper Mensah's family

Adventure Packed Week

Elder Ordyna and Elder Smith

Hey family and friends,

Don't worry... things in Ghana are still sweet. This week sure was packed full of some serious adventures like never before witnessed. As you read this prepare for your mind to be blown, this is basically Fast and Furious status.

#1- The Flood that Took Elder Smith's Glasses
This week was seriously super rainy!! It rained basically every single day. But on Tuesday was by far the craziest day. It was basically already raining the whole day off and on, but at 7 pm we went to one appointment, a family that we are preparing to baptize this week Saturday. As we were finishing the lesson, it started to rain super hard. Basically like a hurricane. We didn't think anything of it because it was our last appointment of the day and we were headed home. So, we decided to go out and walk in the rain back to our apartment. Yeah, let me just say we completely underestimated the power of the storm. Before we were even walking for five minutes, we were already pretty soaked and basically walking through rivers to get back home. After about 10 minutes of walking my companion, Elder Smith realized that his glasses were gone. We tried looking for them for them, but it was dark and super rainy and wet everywhere. So, we decided just to make it back to our house as fast as possible. We tried looking for them again in the morning, but they probably got swept away. I can say that that night we were basically like Indiana Jones. We were jumping from rock to rock and trudging through the water to our shins. It felt pretty awesome. 

#2- Highway to Mampong
This past week we planned an exchange with our farthest away companionship. They are out in a place called Mampong. It is about a 2.5-hour trip away and up in the mountains. They are a companionship currently in training. Elder Lephoyo is from the Republic of Congo, and he is the trainer while Elder Stewart is from Layton, Utah and he is the trainee. Our plan for the exchange was to leave Wednesday evening, have the exchange all of Thursday and then return to Kwamo Friday Evening. On Wednesday we left Kwamo at like 7 pm already thirty minutes behind our original plan. We had to take two cars it was so far away. We went from Kwamo to Effiduasi with no problems. The moment it all changed was when we got into the taxi to head to Mampong. We waited like 30 minutes for it to fill, and then we headed off on our journey. I got stuck in between two huge sweaty people, and it was the most uncomfortable ride ever. We got about fifteen minutes into the journey when the taxi went over a huge bump, and the tire rims fell off the taxi. We had to stop for like another 15 minutes as the taxi driver went out to find it. We got out and helped him find it. It rolled off the road and went into some deep bush. We were walking around for with flashlights for a while until we found it. Then it happened another time. After an hour we were basically in the same place. Finally, the driver put the hubcap in the back trunk, and we were making a great time until we got stopped at every single one of the police checkpoints on the way up because the driver overloaded the car. The maximum occupancy was only four passengers. But, the driver wanted more money and put two people up front. We had to stop at like three checkpoints. But, finally, after a three-hour trip, we made it safely to Mampong. And my summary of Mampong is it is by far the bushiest place I have ever been. To get anywhere, you have to take a fifteen minute bush trail. It is pretty dope basically the machete cutting area. 

#3- Baptismal Interview Miracle
After we came back from Mampong on Friday, we had a baptismal interview planned at Dichemso with President Webster. It was planned to be at 2:30 pm and we told our candidate to meet us at 1:00 pm and then we would go because we knew that it would be well over an hour drive from Kwamo to Dichemso in tro. But, then she didn't come until 2:00 PM and then we left. WE ARRIVED AT THE STAKE CENTER AT 2:40 PM. IT was an absolute miracle. Everything worked out for us. The tro hardly stopped, and the traffic was perfect. It was an absolute baptism miracle that was able to work out perfectly.

Every week in Ghana so far has been amazing and adventureful. It just wouldn't be GKM anymore if nothing happened. Things are sweet and going well out here. We were having such a great time this week that I didn't have much time to take pictures. Sorry!! But, enjoy these pictures from our most recent zone conference!

Elder Ordyna

Sister Bintu and Sister Blessing (before her baptismal interview)

Brother and Sister Ayequee

The Meek Kwamo Zone

Family and friends,

Another great week came and went. I forgot how fast the time flies when you are out in the field working all day every day. Things sure have been sweet out here in Kwamo. Even though it is my fourth area inside Kumasi it really isn't in Kumasi. We are about a 45 minute tro-tro ride to town and basically out on the outskirts of town along the highway to Accra. It is just a residential area with a lot of bush and peacefullness. We far enough out where we don't get the business or noise of Kumasi but we are also close enough we are still able to benefit from all of the perks. Like we are able to email at KNUST a university here and then we will go to the Kumasi Mall for some small enjoyment. It is my companion's last transfer on mission so we are completely enjoying ourselves every Monday until he goes home.

This past week was my first time at MLC (mission leadership council). It is held on the first thursday of every month and is where all of the zone leaders come together and we council on how to help the mission as well as report on our accountability from this last month. Right now the Kwamo Zone is leading the mission in every category. Our missionaries are on fire right now and all of them have the drive and desire to share the gospel with others which is absolutely amazing. That is where we got the name for our zone from. The MEEK Kwamo Zone. We are doing so well and having a lot of success but we are humble and quiet about it. Plus, majority of our zone members are in two man apartments so noone really ever sees us. We are just out in the bush having a lot of fun and having great success. Now that I am a zone leader it has been so much easier for me to see how much the Lord is blessing this work. The amazing part is I don't only see the hand of the Lord in my area but also in every single one of my zone members areas as well. A highlight of my week are Sunday evenings. As we wait to talk to our zone members about their accountability. It is a lot of fun to see how everyone is doing and the progress of the zone. The Ghana Kumasi Mission continues to be the sweetest mission in the world and am so grateful to be a missionary here each and every day.

Like I said last week, right now we have been covering two wards. The first ward is so active and doing super well. Because they are so active in doing missionary work we are so busy seeing investigators and members in that area we were seriously neglecting ward 2. And I guess it finally set in that we weren't really focusing on them because this last Sunday at church members brought their friends to church and then we received another dozen phone numbers for members friends. The whole bishopric got the members excited to do missionary work. It is unbelievable and now ward 2 is beginning to awaken. It is super awesome now that both wards are working as hard as they can to bring people to church but as missionaries we are running into to some serious problems time wise. We don't have enough time to go to all of the people from ward 1 and ward 2 during the week. We are literally drowning in people to go and see. So, basically what we have come up with is we will meet with someone and then give them two Sundays to come to church and if they don't come either week we will drop them and stop seeing them so we can focus on other people. We are also planning on going on splits with some members to make our time more effective and efficient. Which will be very cool and the first time that I have had to do it on my mission so far because we have been busy enough. This is the perfect area for me. We are busy all the time, having great success and the members are absolutely amazing. I am hoping that president will leave me in this area until I go home, but I doubt that will happen.

One interesting thing that happened this week was we were able to contact an Indian guy named Pedam. We were walking home along Accra road and he stopped us. He was super happy to talk to us and said that he was new to Kumasi and was starting a business selling cars. We talked about the church and he happily accepted one of our pamphlets and said that he would call us. As we were leaving he offered us a cigarette and beer and wanted us to come to a party at his hotel. We declined all three and told him that we would call him soon. He was such a great guy and I am sure one day he will be touched by what we told him and will be inspired to investigate more about the church.

It sure was a great and crazy week. One full of success and joy. Love you all so much and hope you have a great week!

Happy to be in Kwamo

Kwamo Highway

Ma Gina's House (cooks for the missionaries every night)

The One and Only Kwamo

Hey family and friends,

This week has been a crazy and amazing one. The first week in an area is always crazy but especially when it is Kwamo. Things out here are so productive and busy we are either running to appointments or teaching. We have two wards with a lot of powerful members. It is hard to remember which ward a member goes to, but there are definitely a lot of members to choose from to come out with us and to fellowship our investigators which is definitely a plus. The ward members are giving us so much help and love that I am actually getting a feel for the missionaries back home. One of the members in Ward 1 named Ma Gina feeds us every single night! It is absolutely amazing. We are receiving so many referrals from the members that it is hard to keep track of them all. We already had like five potential investigators to follow up on, and then yesterday at church we received another five referrals. People here are so serious about sharing the gospel that the work is always moving forward.

After driving in a car, having a/c and being close to the mission president for six months I have kind of forgotten what it is like to be an actual missionary. I am now back riding in a tro-tro with the sun casting down like fire and with some seriously slow internet. But, it is by far the best place to be. If they gave me the option to go back to the office, I wouldn't want to go. I feel so much more in tune with the spirit and experience so many more things out here. 

My new companion is named Elder Smith. He is from Rexburg, Idaho and will be going home at the end of this transfer. We are having a great time together in this zone and area. He has been a seriously great mentor and teacher already. We are having a lot of fun and making the work super great and the days are flying by so fast.  

Honestly, Kwamo will probably be my favorite area yet. It is full of great people and a lot of fun and hard work. 

Elder Ordyna

Sorry, no pictures this week. Super busy proselyting and meeting new people.

Farewell to the Office Life

Kwamo Town

The End of The Office GKM

Elvis and his powerful family

I don't have much time tonight. We still have to go out and finish weighing bags and things for the missionaries going home tomorrow. I just wanted to get on real quick and talk about this next transfer because I know I won't have time the rest of this week. My reign here in the great and powerful GKM Office is coming to an end this week. This Wednesday is another round of transfers. At this point on mission, transfers seem like they come and go now. This will be my fifth area and 11th companion in 11 transfers. I will be going to Kwamo as a zone leader to be with Elder Smith. He is a powerful guy from Rexburg, Idaho. We served with each other in the same apartment in Techiman when he was my zone leader, and he also trained one of the missionaries that came on mission at the same time I did.

 

Bishop Bonsu and the First Counselor and his wife the Brobbey's

Investigators Morfrid, Benjamin and Prince

Michael and Martin

Cosmos and Edward

Francis Archer

Roland, Jennifer, and Francis Archer

                                       

Brother and Sister Brobbey

Farewell FM at Ma Konadu's

Members, Members, Members

Family Home Evening at the Schow's (senior couple serving here in GKM)

Hey everyone!!

This week was certainly focused on members and how we as missionaries can better work with members to bring even more souls unto Christ. Members are key to success in missionary work. I love working with members because they make the work fun and enjoyable and also a lot easier. 
We started with an amazing zone conference centered on teaching skills and finding. It was my first zone conference with President Webster instead of President Cosgrave. It certainly had a different feel, but President Webster was great, and the spirit was strong.  I definitely learned a lot. He showed a video of President Ballard's talk during the Mission President Training this year. He talked about the different ways of finding. The one that really hit me was the one on members. He stated that the two main reasons why members don't do missionary work are because they are scared, or they don't fully understand the importance of missionary work. It was really interesting to hear. Through this zone conference, my companionship and I have made goals this week to involve more members in the work.

 Eating fufu at the Gyamfi's (family in the ward)

We continued to go out with Brother Elvis, a member in the Ward and of course that brought a lot of wondering blessings in the proselyting section. He was able to show us one of his family friends. It was a mother with two of her sons. They are so ready for the gospel. They told us about how they were bouncing from one church to another and couldn't find one that they truly loved and wanted to stay. During the first lesson, we talked about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ they were really touched at what we were saying. They even came to church this past Sunday and said that they absolutely love the church and they felt something there and knew that it was the church for which they were looking. Through the use of a member, we were able to find a family that is ready for the gospel and are progressing very well because of the fellowshipping and friendship the member is showing to them.

All Africa Service Project was pulling weeds and chopping down bush at Bantama Stake chapel.

Another experience we had this week with members is attending an All-Africa service project at Bantama Stake Center. We split up into groups and went out to weed places along the Bantam overpass leading to Sofoline. It was an amazing activity. We were able to spend time with members while having a lot of fun serving and helping people. Spending time with members and getting to know members is a great first step to building great relationships with members. 
Lastly, this last Monday we planned a Ward football activity where we invited members to invite their friends and to come and play a fun football match. It was seriously very enjoyable, and three members invited their non-member friends to play. And we received a lot more people to teach. Activities like these provide a great and easy way for members to invite friends and to introduce them to other members and the church. 
This week was seriously so productive and effective. Working with members was absolutely amazing and so fruitful. We added like five new people to our teaching pool that already have the foundation and support in their member friend that will help them to come to church and continue to support and strengthen them. This week was great, and I invite all of you to work with your ward missionaries and help your friends and family to come unto Christ!! Love you all! Elder Ordyna

Kumasi Traffic

The Mini Chair

Teaching Investigators with Brother Elvis

Investigators at Church

Internet Failure

Zone Conference With President and Sister Webster 

Long time my guys!!

I know it is surprising, but even here in the office, we have an internet failure. The internet has been out for the past week here in the mission home, and it has just come back. So, now I can email. It was another seriously busy week here in the office. As we get nearer and nearer to the end of the transfer, it seems like things are getting busier and busier and time is going faster and faster. My reign here in the office is about to close, and a new chapter will open in my mission. I am getting to the point where everything I do is my last here. 

This week was another great week. We didn't have much time to proselyte. Only were able to see our progressing investigators. But, we did meet a new powerful investigator named Junior who was able to come to church this past week and said that he loved it. He was one of Elvis's smoking buddies a couple of years ago. Junior has told us how Elvis and another one of his friends Michael have been such great examples and role models for him through the years and especially recently as they both baptized. Junior told us that he knows the gospel of Jesus Christ can change lives and he wants to have the same happiness and joy Elvis and Michael have had. He is keeping all of his commitments and even comes to Elvis's house every night to read the Book of Mormon with him. It has been amazing to see the real effects of members in missionary work. They can really help and motivate investigators so much! 

This week we continued to enjoy here in Daban. On Monday we had a zone activity where we played games and had a district talent show. Later that night, we went over to the Schow's for Family Home Evening. They are the senior couple working in the office. I had my first hot dog in over a year there which was seriously amazing. Elder Schow was a professor of religion at BYU for years and has so much gospel knowledge. He gave us a great discussion/lesson on the importance of symbolism in the scriptures. Lastly, we were invited again to the Brobbey's house this week for another party. This time it was for Brother Brobbey's birthday. We had a water fight and a cake fight which was a lot of fun. Here in Ghana if it is your birthday every one around you tries to spray you with water. It is basically a lot like smingus dingus (Polish holiday). 

A mission is filled with a lot of depressing moments and hard times, but the majority is so much fun and absolutely amazing!!

Elder Ordyna

Getting Brother Brobbey wet on his Birthday

Elder Momotimi, Elder Banta, Elder Blanchard and I at Abode's

Getting the Mail

Teaching under a Mango Tree

Anything for GKM

July 31-Aug. 9, 2018

Album cover- ANYTHING FOR GKM

Hey people!

Hope everyone has had a great and exciting week. My week sure was a mixture of exciting and busy. I have learned many wonderful things and have experienced so many great memories while I have been here in the office. In three weeks will be my six-month mark here. I have officially come up with the catchphrase "Anything for GKM!!" When we have to go and do something hard or super time consuming here in the office, we just say anything for GKM, and it helps us to go and do. It is going around the whole mission now which is pretty sweet. 

Elder Aye and I are eating enchiladas made by Sister Webster. Her and President Webster were away for the weekend at Sunyani District Conference, and we received a text that they needed us to go in and eat the food or it would spoil by the time they got there. They are the nicest people. And it wasn't just enchiladas it was an array of items that I hadn't had for over a year. It was amazing.

How many missionaries can you fit inside the mission van? You can't see them all, but we managed to fit 15 of us in there!

I am proud to say that this week was my last MLC in the office. MLC is when all of the zone leaders around the mission come to the mission home for a meeting with the assistants and President Webster. And we office elders are in charge of getting all of the supplies and distribution items ready for them. So beginning even the day before we are rushing to get all of the supplies prepared and separated out to their various zones. It is a madhouse after MLC as well. Basically, a bunch of zone leaders with their heads cut off. We are always relieved and grateful when it is all said and done. 

Typical evening Kumasi traffic

On Saturday I had the opportunity to leave my area and head out to Bantama for an exchange with my zone leader Elder Dhlamini. He is a great guy from South Africa. The day was a lot of fun. We got along very well, and it was great getting to know him better. But, overall the day was pretty hard. We had a bunch of lessons planned, but all of them fell through. So, our backup was to contact basically all day. I really do not like contacting at all, but it was very enjoyable this time because we were also with a great member. Bantama is the heart of Kumasi. The area has the huge market called Kejetia. Before we knew it, we had contacted all the way down into the deep market. That place is basically like a black hole. Once you go in it is seriously hard to come back out. 

Kejetia Market

We were in heavy people traffic and then we were finally able to find a "yellow-yellow" or "praggia." Type auto rickshaw into Google to see a picture. That was an ultimate mistake. I would honestly have to say it was one of the scariest drives of my life. We were in a small tricycle basically with huge trucks and cars everywhere. 

We finally made it out and continued on our way. We then got a call from Nkoransa one of the areas in the zone, and the missionaries there were asking for reimbursement and some supplies. So we had to take an hour tro ride out there and then give them the supplies and then another hour back to Bantama. We didn't get home from the exchange till 10 pm. It sure was one of my more memorable and adventure filled exchanges. 

We went to the Brobbey's house after church on Sunday to celebrate their one year wedding anniversary. He is the 1st counselor in the Bishopric, and she served her mission here in Kumasi.

Sunday was absolutely amazing as well. It was fast, and testimony Sunday and the room was absolutely packed full of chairs. We will need to get a new chapel because Daban Ward is growing so much! The members are full of energy and spirit to do missionary work and to bring their friends to church which is amazing. Very soon we will have more than one ward here in Daban! One of our investigators went up and bore his testimony about how he was driving his "motoking" (also look this one up on google to see what it looks like) and transporting a huge fridge in the back of it when he hit a pothole and the whole bike tipped over and the fridge landed on his leg. At that very moment, he prayed to God and asked Him to help heal his leg and make sure everything would be ok because he really wanted to make it out to church the next day. And God heard his prayer, and his leg was healed, and some men came over and helped get the fridge off of him and the next day he was up bearing his testimony about it at church. His name is Morfrid, and he is progressing super well. He doesn't do well with English, but he says that when he reads the Book of Mormon the Spirit really helps him to understand what he is reading about and because of that he now has a testimony of this gospel and the Book of Mormon. We have even received another referral from one of our members named Felix. He is 18 years old and said that he wanted to find another church because every time he went to his old church, he had a bad feeling. The member invited him to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and then we asked him how he felt afterward and he said amazing and knew it to be the church of God. He is also progressing very well and has gained a testimony for himself that the Book of Mormon is true.

Us with Brother Elvis and his family at KFC. His wife Eunice just recently graduated from Teacher's Training University, so we took her and the family to KFC to celebrate.

I know the Lord is blessing us for our diligence in trying to proselyte despite all of the many office tasks that we have. There have been so many miracles occur in this area even though we only have limited time to go out and see our investigators. We are planning to have five baptisms my last week in this area which would be absolutely incredible. I know this is God's work and he is mindful of our efforts and knows the sacrifice and desire we make to serve Him.

Picture of Daban (my proselyting area). At the time of this picture, we were teaching a man named Jonah on the top of his house.

For all of you going back to school hope it is a great first week!!

Elder Ordyna

Extreme Makeover Apartment Edition

My companions and I are helping out in primary (Elder Ordyna, Aye and Dennis)

The Daban Ward Football Team

How far!! (Nigerian Pigeon)

Hope things are great back home! Things in Ghana are as sweet as ever! My energy and spirit for teaching people sure have built up inside me these past months in the office. I am ready to leave this place and to get back out there and in the field again. It will be absolutely amazing. But, for now, I am trying my hardest to magnify all of my office responsibilities.

This past week we spent about three days sitting in our apartment while a carpenter, electrician, and painter came to renovate our apartment completely. We were automatically chosen to be the ones to remain in the apartment because the assistants had a bunch of official business that President Webster needed them to take care of. By the end of it, I was super bored of being bored. At one point I was so bored that I ironed all of my trousers and white shirts for the week. But, I do have to admit after all of the work has been done the apartment is absolutely fantastic and now a celestial apartment.

The Office Staff Assistants- Elder Banta & Elder Momotimi

Office Elders- Elder Aye, Elder Ordyna and Elder Dennis with Brother Cooper the Real Estate Specialist

Brother Cooper's son's birthday party

On Tuesday evening we were invited by Brother Cooper to his son's birthday party. For Brother Cooper, he works for the mission and is in charge of all of the real estate in the mission (namely missionary apartments). The only problem is that he stays on the other side of Kumasi. We were driving for a good two hours through traffic and bad roads in order to get to his house. But, it was a great evening and a whole lot of fun. On the way back we tried to take a bunch of shortcuts down some random backstreets. Which I have concluded is a super bad idea especially out here. You never know where a road will lead you and it could at any time just end or get so bad that it is undrivable. But, luckily around 10 pm we finally made it back to our apartment. That was one of our great adventures we had this week.


Even though we didn't have much time to proselyte and to go out and teach people for the time that we did have there were a lot of spiritual moments. I have increased my testimony so much on mission. It has really grown my faith by seeing people change from the gospel of Jesus Christ and see them gain a testimony for themselves. This week we visited the referrals we received from one of our recent converts Kenneth. All three of them are doing super well and are coming to church. But, none of them were reading the Book of Mormon or said that they received an answer to their prayers. When we went to see them this last time all three of them said that they read the Book of Mormon and even felt like they received an answer to their prayers. One even said that he came from work super tired and wanted to go right to sleep. But, he said that he had a super strong feeling to go into his room and open his Book of Mormon. He really wanted just to ignore it and go to sleep. But, he followed the prompting and read the Book of Mormon, and he said that as he did so he received a huge happy and joyful feeling in his heart and he knew instantly that the Book of Mormon was true. He later told us that he knew God inspired at that very moment to read his Book of Mormon at that very moment because it was the right time to receive his answer. He said that he knew if he didn't obey it he still wouldn't have his answer to his prayers. As investigators tell me how they received a testimony for themselves, it helps me to know how true this gospel truly is and how much God loves everyone and truly wants everyone to know the truth and to come unto him.

Another experience I had this week was with Sister Mavis. She is one of our recent converts that was baptized last month. She didn't come to church yesterday, so we went to her house last night to see how she was doing and why she didn't come to church. When we got there, we found out that she had been super sick the past couple of days and now her whole family is sick, and that is why she was unable to make it to church. As we talked with her, she shared with us that she has not only been sick, but a lot of opposition and obstacles have come into her life. I had the deep impression to share with her the story about Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail and all of the opposition he and the early saints went through. 
After I read this scripture to her and was beginning to explain it and talked more about Joseph Smith I had an intensely warm and peaceful feeling come to me. I had a strong spiritual impression that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he truly is the prophet of the Restoration. I also felt an assurance that God lives, and he truly knows each one of us and wants us to be as happy as possible. Sister Mavis then also shared her testimony and knew that through faith she would be able to get through anything. In the end, I was able to give her a blessing of healing and the spirit was absolutely so strong. She called us this morning and said that she had been completely healed. 

This week was absolutely one of the most spiritual ones I have had so far on mission. I have loved feeling the spirit so strongly and being so in tune with the Holy Spirit. Hope all of you have a wonderful week!!

Love,
Elder Ordyna 

The Bantama Stake Chapel

Elder Dennis, Elder Ordyna, Elder Aye and Elder Momotimi